CC Sabathia (SP-NYY)
In Sabathia's first start of the season, the strikeouts were certainly there but the outcome was a loss. Today's game was no different. Sabathia took the loss again giving up 4 runs on 7 hits while striking out 7 in 7 innings of work. Sabathia only threw 16 fastballs out of 90 total pitches. His 89 mph offering was fooling no one and is probably the reason why. We have been seeing a steady decline in velocity with Sabathia from nearly 94 mph on his four seam fastball to under 90 mph in 2014. In his first start of the year he was down to around 89 and he remains there. This is not to say that he can't still be effective at times, since he still gets batters to swing and miss at a high rate, but when they make contact he has seen a rise of 5% in HR/FB rate. Adam Jones took him yard in today's game. Simply said the new Sabathia does not have the margin of error that he had earlier in his career so he will likely be inconsistent all season. There are very few cases where a pitcher this age (he'll be 35 in July) coming off a knee injury rediscovers his velocity.
Jose Quintana (SP- CWS)
Jose Quintana took the loss in his first outing of the season but reversed that trend giving up 1 run on 3 hits and striking out 6 to pick up his 1st win in 6 innings of work. Quintana had a very solid season last year for the White Sox. He struck out 8 batters per 9 innings and had a nice 2.34 walks/9 innings ratio last season. He does not have an overpowering fastball so he will rely on his curve which he throws 25% of the time as his best out pitch. While he certainly could see some positive regression in his .318 BABIP he did benefit greatly from a 5% HR/FB rate which he is not likely to sustain based upon a 10% career rate. I don't believe this is a pitcher that will make significant strides this year, especially if he can't improve on his very average change. Quintana does not miss bats at a high enough rate right now to make up for the likely rise in HR's since he will be pitching half his games in one of the better hitters parks in MLB.
Miguel Gonzalez (SP-Baltimore)
Miguel Gonzalez pitched a very solid game in his season opener and today he was even better. He struck out 10 and allowed only 1 ER in 7 innings to pick up the win for the Oriole against the Yankees. Gonzalez came on at end of last season posting an impressive 10 QS in his final 13 games. He seems to be one of those pitchers who controls their BABIP as his .273 mark last season is supported by his prior two years. Coming back to reality, there is no way that he will pitch to the 1.59 ERA he delivered last season. His 86% strand rate is very inflated for his skill set so a significant regression on the negative side will push his ERA somewhere into the high 3's or beyond. His SIERA was 4.40 last season. Armed with a fastball registering at just under 91 mph, he will depend on his slider as his primary out pitch and his curveball and change are not noteworthy. Despite the impressive start, at 30 years old he is primarily back of the rotation material.
Shane Green (SP-Detroit)
Shane Green had an impressive first start of the season giving up only 1 earned run. He followed that performance today with even a better one as he pitched 8 innings of shutout ball yielding only 3 hits with 3 K's for the win. Green was an effective pitcher for the Yankees in 2014 averaging over a K per inning although he walked a few too many batters which has been his career issue even in the Minors. He has a nice 93 mph fastball which he is spotting better this season and if he can continue to develop his effective slider and throw his change more often he could really have value. He misses bats and can generate groundballs which are two necessary components to advancing as a pitcher. Last season, when he missed, he had a 12.7% HR/FB rate which was also a problem he brought with him from the Minors. Moving to Comerica should help the HR rate, and he has shown better command around the plate in the early going, so he has a good chance to progress this season.
Rougned Odor (2B-Texas)
Rougned Odor has gotten off to a bit of a slow start this season but he started today's game in the leadoff spot for the Rangers. Odor contributed a double and a SB and scored a run. He debuted last season at only 21 years old with a .259 BA and he hit 9 HR's in 114 games while driving in 48. While Odor does not possess exceptional bat speed he does have a very advanced plate approach for a very young player. While we would like to see him walk more than the 4.1% he did last season he kept his K rate to a reasonable 17%. The feeling here is that he has mid to upper teens power. Odor stole 27 bases in the Minors in 2013 so if he can stay perched at the top of the lineup he could produce a 15/15 line and be a very productive player.
At $3,000, and leading off for the Rangers, he would make a good FanDuel value play on Wednesday.
@stevietheshu
This is just a small sample our our daily analysis, join our member area for more premium content: http://www.fantistics.com/join/join.php3
